Raúl Jacob, CFO of the company Southern Copper, recognized that the concerns of the citizens of Arequipa about the execution of the Tía María mining project are sincere, for which he asked the Government to redouble its efforts to reactivate the dialogue.
As part of his presentation at the virtual conference “Mining panorama from the CFO’s perspective”, organized by the Canada-Peru Chamber of Commerce (CCCP), he stated that Tía María is ready to begin construction, with a view to turning Southern into a one of the main copper suppliers in the world.
“We are ready to start construction, but a social dialogue work is required. It is a sincere concern of the population”Jacob acknowledged.
Along these lines, the also head of the National Society of Mining, Oil and Energy (SNMPE) said that the start of operations of Tía María would represent a “bell” for the international market of the red metal. It should be noted that the Mexican group had said before that its start-up could place them at the level of Codelco (Chile).
“The national government should help the process move forward, since starting Tía María would be a bell for the world copper market,” said the businessman.
Jacob also specified that the contemporary projects of The Chancas (Apurimac) and Michiquillay (Cajamarca) are the next in sight. The first should add 153,000 tons of copper by 2026; while Michiquillay, which will start production in 2026, would add an additional 238,000 tons.
“Tía María has made great progress this year. If we move forward with Los Chancas and Michiquillay, our general production should increase by almost 80% ”, he highlighted.
Tía María implies an investment of 1,400 million dollars. It would annually produce 120,000 tons of copper and the Arequipa region would receive 300 million soles per year from the mining canon. However, the mine has stiff resistance in Arequipa due to the long history of environmental liabilities left by Southern throughout the Peruvian territory.
Where is Tía María?
Tía María is a mining project located in the La Joya desert, north of the city of Cocachacra, in the province of Islay, Arequipa region. It includes the exploitation of two open pit deposits that have three districts that make up the area of direct influence, such as Cocachacra, Mejía and Dean Valdivia.
According to information from Southern Cooper, in charge of the project since 2003, 3,000 jobs would be generated in the construction phase; while in the Operation stage (direct) and in the Operation stage (indirect) they would be 650 and 3,500, respectively.
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